Smith



(No Model.)

J. W. SMITH.

BBE HIVE. No. 306,357. Patented Oet. 7, 1884.

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Unirse @rares Paritair @erica f JAMES \VASHINGTON SMITH, OF PLEASANT VIEW", TENNESSEE BEE-l-HVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 306,357, dated October 7, 1884.

` Application filed October 2G, 1383. (No'inodel.) l

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Ile it known that I, J. XV, SMITH, a citizen of the United Sta-tes, residingat Pleasant Yew, in the county of Cheathamand State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bee-Hives, and I do declarev the l:Following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or iigures ol' reference marked there on, which form a part of this specification.

Figure I ci' the drawings is a representation of a vertical transverse sectional view. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. et is a horizontal sectional view with the sashes, boxes, and horizontal partitions removed, and Fig. 5 is a sectional detail View oi" the honeyboXes and the tins temporarily between them.

rl`his Vinvention has relation to colony beehives; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described,and particularly pointed out in the claim appended.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, a designates the bee-hive, which is separated into Afour compartments, b b b2 b, by the ordinary division-boards, c, and is provided with an entra-nce, d, on each side near one end. The hive is preferably thirty inches square, and the sides are made similar in appearance.

Near the upper edges of each compartment I) b b2 If, at opposite sides thereof, and at right angles to the points of entrance of the several compartments, parallel wires c c are stretched from eyes f, projecting from the walls or' the compartments. These wires c c form the snpports for the sashes g, which are thus prevented from coming in contact with the walls of the compartments, thereby permitting the sashes to be readily removed and replaced. Further, the space lelt between the sashes and the walls of the compartments enables the bees to follow the moth to any part ofthe hive and destroy its eggs. The exits I of the compartments Z) b b2 bi are respectively closed by slides B, which are suspended by hook-arms D from the transverse wires e.

The compartments b b b2 b3 are covered by [slatted horizontal partitions 7i, upon which the boxes t', with holes t" in their tops and bottoms, rest. The boxes i-with holes 7J in' their bottoms, only rest on the boxes t, the holes and L" being aligned.

The box-compartment Z of the hive is provided with hinged doors m m, opening downwardly.

I place a colony of bees in compartment b, and when it is nearly filled I stop up the entrance to compartment b, and raise the drop-door in compartment b, and turn the hive one-fourth round, bringing the entrance to Z1 into the place formerly occupied by b. This change does not bother the workers in their course, and they will then iill b. Similar changes forb2 and b are afterward made at the proper time, and the bees willcontiniie to swarm in the hive and not out on the trees.

Compartments b and l)2 may be provided each with a colony at the same time, and the bees in b will lill compartment b', and those in b2 will iill compartment b. W hen all four are completed, in early spring, I take the colonies from b and b2 and place them in another hive of similar construction-one in b and one in Ifl ofthe new hive. rIlhis change leaves two coinpartments in each hive to iill, the swarming being all done in the hive.

In taking the honey from the hive it can be done without danger of being stung by a very simple means which I have provided. Open the hinged door and slip two pieces, n a, of tin between an upper and alower boX. Draw the upper box with the upper tin, a, held against its bottoni from the hive, leaving the lower tin, n, on the lower box, which will iinprison the bees. Turn the upper over and set it down, leaving the tin a over the holes. Place a new top box on the tin still resting on the lower box in the hive, withdraw the tin, and the bees will enter the new box. Close the hinged door and remove the tin a from the box that has been taken out of the hive, and the bees in said box will come out and go directly into the hive without any attempt at stinging.

The operation of taking honey may be performed by a lady or any person possessing sufficient skill to manipulate the tins and boxes without the slightest danger of being stung.

The hive is cheap and simple in its conn ICO struction, and does not expose as much surface to the cold in Winter as the single-colony hives, and by its use the bees will be always swarmed in the hive.

Vhen it is necessary to look for moths, I blow a little smokeinto the hivesvhich drives the beesv up into the honey-boxes. I then insert the tin plates under the lower boxes, which prevents the return of the bces,and then clean the moths out.

I am aware that it is not new to construct a hive with four communicating compartments, each having,` an entrance and a slide for closing communication between the respective compartments, and that it is also old to provide Athe sashcs with hooked arms by which to suspend them from a wire extending` across each compartment, and therefore do :not claim such constructions, broadly; but,

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The bee-hive described, provided with the compartments b b ZJZ b, having an entrance, d, and an exit, I, the slides B, suspended by a hoolcarm, D, the wires e, eyes f, the sashes g, and the slotted vhorizontal partition 7z,for supporting the boxes t', all arranged substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES XVASHINGTON SMITH.

\Vitnesses:

A. J. HUNT, p M. \V. SMITH. 

